It had been Mina’s intention to take a walk along the beach that afternoon, but she had forgotten how long it took to clear away after the meals and in the end, she and Edna bought their sewing into the kitchen and sat together companionably over their work. Mina did tentatively suggest retiring to the parlor for the afternoon, but Edna looked scandalized at the idea, so she quickly gave that idea up. Edna was making herself a new dress for her days out from a flowered calico and Mina had more mending to do.
Many cups of tea were drunk, and Mina’s repairs were all mended by the end of their session and even a handkerchief embroidered with her new initials MN and a spray of flowers motif that Edna showed her using daisy stitches.
“It’s very pretty,” Mina said, holding up the square of fabric and admiring the effect. “I believe I shall have to do my other handkerchiefs now to match.”
“You could change up the color of the flowers for variety,” Edna suggested. “I’ve some spare colored thread if you have none.”
“Thank you, but there’s a good quantity in the workbox Nye gave me,” Mina remembered. She set her small scissors aside after trimming off a bit of loose thread. “Has he mentioned yet that he is hosting another prizefight here this week?” she asked.
Edna’s expression tightened. “Aye, he did.” She clicked her tongue. “I’m not saying they don’t bring a good deal of business to his door, for they do. But a more disorderly mob you’d be hard-pressed to find.” She shook her head. “No better than a pack of heathens.”
“As bad as that?” Mina asked in some alarm.
Edna tossed her head so hard she nearly lost her mob cap. “Cutthroats and guttersnipes and scarlet women,” she said, lowering her voice over the latter. “Ungodly lot, steeped in wickedness and sin.”
Mina blinked, remembering Effie in her scarlet dress. “Some of them must have redeeming qualities,” she murmured, remembering she still had the redhead’s cream scarf which had been used for a makeshift bridal veil. If Effie was among their number, she could return it to her, she thought cheering up. “I remember one among them who did me a kindness.”
Edna’s expression wavered. “Well,” she conceded reluctantly. “I suppose even wrongdoers have the occasional good impulse, just as the good flock do sometimes have wicked ones.”
“It is not always as cut and dried as we would like,” Mina agreed, thinking of her suspicions about Nye and the smuggling trade. She wasn’t quite sure where her duty lay in that respect and it troubled her. Of course, she had no proof of her suspicions and a wife couldn’t testify against her husband in any case. Still, she felt uneasy whenever she did happen to think of it.
It occurred to Mina that she had not seen Ivy for a couple of days, and she realized that since Nye had started sleeping in the attic, neither of the two maids came to her bedroom anymore. She tapped lightly on Ivy’s door before she went to bed. She had just started to turn away, thinking the maid must be behind the bar already, when the door opened, and a flush-faced Ivy answered it.
“Oh Mina—I mean, Mrs. Nye,” she corrected herself, looking around in a furtive manner.
“Is everything alright, Ivy?”
“Oh yes, I mean, Master Nye let me come up to my room with a headache. He said he’d tend bar tonight.”
“Oh, I see and how are you feeling now, Ivy? You do look a little flushed.” To her surprise, she noticed Ivy was fully dressed in a warm wool dress with her hair pinned up and a hat pinned atop her blonde curls as if to go out.
Ivy’s uneasy expression deepened. She hovered a moment, seemingly undecided on some score. Then she stood to one side and let her door fall fully open. “Come inside,” she urged Mina, catching her arm and drawing her into her attic bedroom.
Mina looked about and was surprised to see the room looking a lot neater than when she’d seen it previously. On that occasion it had been strewn with Ivy’s things and every surface covered with bottles and beads and boxes of powder. Now, the room looked practically bare. Mina’s eye noticed two large bags to the side of the door, she caught her breath and turned to Ivy who was chewing her lip.
“Ivy, are you going somewhere?”
“It’s like this, Miss,” Ivy interrupted her in an agitated voice. She drew Mina to the bed and they both sat on the edge of the mattress. “There’s this man as said he’ll have me any time this past two year. Sam Rollins his name is. He knows I’m no better than I ought to be, but he said he don’t mind my past, it’s my future he’s looking to. He’s a quiet-spoken fellow and slow to smile, but well, when he do, it’s a sight worth seeing.”
Ivy looked wistful a moment, before staring down at her hands. “Well, I’ve always had a fondness for Sam and well,” Ivy took a deep breath. “He’s been left some land up Yorkshire way and a cottage and he wants to make a go of it. Says he’ll marry me, Miss. And what I’m thinking is it’s now or never.”
“Oh Ivy, that’s wonderful, but I don’t understand the need for secrecy?”
Ivy stood up and then sat back down again in agitation. “He asked me a month ago, you see, and I gave him a flat no. He’s got two kiddies, you see, Miss and I- I never liked my own stepmother. I told you I think that I tried married life once before and it didn’t turn out so well.” She quirked an eyebrow at Mina, who nodded. She recalled that Ivy’s husband had turned out to be a bigamist. “Truth to tell it’s not an easy life he’s offering me.” Ivy pulled a face. “I was raised on a smallholding. I’ve got no illusions. It’s hard work.” She twisted her hands. “In all honesty, he’d be better off asking the likes of Edna than me.” Ivy’s expression was rueful.
“I doubt Edna would have accepted him,” Mina said truthfully. “For her aunt means to leave her house to her and the true ambition of Edna’s heart is to own a Crown Derby tea set and raise three cats.”
Ivy gave a startled laugh. “Is it really? Well, she’s an odd duck and no mistake.”
“You’ve a kind heart Ivy, I think you’ll make an excellent wife and mother.”
Ivy’s eyes filled with tears. “Thank you, Mina,” she said, taking her hand. “There’s no two ways about it, though. I’ll be leaving you in the lurch here, doing a moonlight flit. I left it too late to work a decent notice. I daren’t tell Nye. Not when he’s expecting a regular gaggle of folks for Wednesday.”
Mina nodded her head, understanding Ivy’s reticence. Nye would be furious. “I comprehend you,” she murmured.
Ivy flung her arms about Mina’s neck. “Thank you for never standing in judgement over me,” she said fiercely as she hugged her. “There’s not many who wouldn’t have.”
“Oh Ivy,” said Mina. “You will be missed.”
“And you won’t tell Nye.”
“I won’t breathe a word.”
Ivy nodded. “You’ve got the handling of him anyway,” she said with a smile. “Any fool can see that.”
Mina wasn’t so sure about that, but she gave an answering smile of reassurance to Ivy who was plainly in a nervous state. “Is Tom collecting you tonight or—?”